I agree with the original article that she looks vaguely like Rosalind Russell, and I think Auntie Mame as a news reporter might be amusing. If I ever watched ABC on TV or on the net, this might be relevant.

Rosalind Russel? Only after googling for pictures, I realized that she's been 'His Girl Friday'. Hmm, there used to be an old advertisement demo video of Congdon on the web, showing her praising the family Volvo (really funny!), before she became blond for Rocketboom...Ok, there's a vague resemblance. But since almost nobody knows Rosalind anymore, this won't hurt Amanda. :)

And clearly part of ABC News trying to appeal to a younger demographic. Will it work? Probably not.

But pantomiming? I remember Cronkite, and the reporter's description of his more subtle communication style while indicating his thoughts I think is accurate; it suggests her act is a variation on an accepted practice. It's not as if the major news networks were ever scrupulously antiseptic about reading the news, even when they thought they were. Anyway, she might end up on the Daily Show, if Stewart could stand the audience distraction. She's hot.

Is it just me, or was that NYT article totally lauding style over substance?

Look... Congdon may honestly be a substantive reporter; I don't know, I've never watched her. But again, my point is the NYT's depiction of her. Not a single word about accuracy or news values, nothing but praise for her presentation. That may make well for a restaurant review, but it's sad writing for an assessment of a reporter.

I don't know what Steely Dan means either, 'tho it's not hard to make a guess. The one thing I remember of the band is that I gave aja to my co-worker Debbie, and she gave me Breakfast in America (Supertramp), and I certainly made out on that deal

Mary is strapping on a rubber penis. "Steely Dan III from Yokohama," she says, caressing the shaft. Milk spurts across the room. "Be sure that milk is pasteurized. Don't go giving me some kinda awful cow disease like anthrax or glanders or aftosa...."

Incidently, a Google search for Steely Dan Naked Lunch returned Congdon's blog, and she's a Steely Dan fan, so she apparently does know what it means.